Fragments of the dead
by c0rndogz
Summary: Rei Miyamoto was seperated from the group. So she puts it on herself to survive. RxR, Kohta/Saya, Takashi/Rei, Contains OCs. I fail at fics.
1. Seperation of the dead

"Come on! We're gonna get to the police station!" Takashi's words still echoed fresh in Rei's mind

_We sure got there, _she thought dryly, and cringed as another one of 'them' threw themselves at her. She quickly did away with it, as the horde surrounded her.

_Damn._

"Hey, Takashi!" She cried from one side of the crowd. "You guys stay there! I can go get help!"

"Rei! Get out of here, we'll be fine!"

"Bull! I'll-"

"THAT WASN'T A SUGGESTION!" Takashi roared. "NOW GET OUT OF HERE!"

Rei would've paused in surprise, but there was one of 'them' ready to eat her.

"Alright!" She blurted, "I'll meet you soon, okay?"

"Alright, now go!"

Rei didn't need to be told twice.

* * *

After a good half hour of running, she stopped inside a convenience store.

_No signs of 'Them',_ she thought, carefully inspecting the inside. _At least not yet._

She walked along the rows of snack foods and candy bars, running her fingers along the edge of the shelves, toward the beverages. At the least, she could get some water.

She didn't just find water. Sodas, teas, and soft drinks all lay in the shut-off refigerator. She momentarily considered a beer, then decided against it, as she needed to be as alert as possible.

Then her eyes wandered over to the sports drinks.

They were colored, filled with sugar and unneeded calories, from her experience tasted nasty, and hadn't been refrigerated in at least a week. But she'd been running around _quite _a lot...

You would have never thought someone could chug down a Gatorade as fast as she did that day.

After another few hours of silently eating her fill of overly-processed snack foods, Rei decided that it was time to move on. The convenience store wasn't a very good shelter, and since the incident at the gas station, staying in one too long made her nervous.

The sun had begun to set by the time she had set foot outside, and she knew all too well that things would be a lot more serious if she was running around at night.

Rei cocked her bayonet fiercely.

This was gonna be fun.

* * *

Kohta Hirano fired shot after shot, always hitting on target, never missing. He couldn't risk losing any ammo, the little that was left of it anyway. He inwardly cursed at 'tem', chewing up perfectly good bullets.

"Hey," Takagi urged him, "Come on!"

Not one to mess around with resident tsundere's head, he quickly followed her.

Inside the building, it was quiet. 'They' were inside too, but not nearly as many, and they were quickly disposed of.

"No sign of Rei's father," Takashi noted. "There were gunshots earlier, so they probably escaped."

Saeko nodded. "Shall we search the area?"

"Yeah. Hirano, you and Takagi-er, Saya, go search that way, and Saeko and I will guard the stairwell."

"Oooh! Oooh!"" Alice whispered, jumping up and down excitedly. "What will Sensei and I do?"

"Uh...you can...Help guard the stairwell...?"

"Yes! _And Zeke will be my weapon!_" She happily lifted the beagle in the air, and the creature whimpered.

_Poor dog, _Kohta thought sympathetically

"What about the other way?" Takagi asked, obviously annoyed about being stuck with _him_.

"Oh," Takashi carefully replied, "We'll go search that way when you two come back. We need a base."

_If we come back,_ Kohta worried. _What with the crowd outside, who _knows_ what could happen._

Something about the idea of Takagi getting eaten or infected made his stomach lurch from a feeling besides hunger. However, he quickly dismissed it and listened in.

"Okay, hurry up and go! We've wasted enough time!"

"Sir, yes sir!" Kohta yelled, and he and Takagi ran off down the hall.

"Something tells me there's gonna be a lot of sexual tension in the building," Shizuka bubbled.

"Huh?" Takashi inquired. "Sensei, did you say something?"

"Nothing," She playfully chuckled. "Don't worry about it."

* * *

Rei Miyamoto thrust her bayonet into another skull, smirking triumphantly. She was knocking 'them' down like dominoes, and she didn't even have bullets. That was an advantage of being in the lancing club, she was adept at using pointy metal objects to kill people. Or the living dead, as was the case. She watched the body drop to the ground, and casually walked over to the front gate her targeted house. Then she put her feet in between the grilles, and hoisted herself up and over.

Inside the front yard, there was one of 'them', alone, with fresh blood on its mouth. It emitted a low, sickening groan, and she put it out of her misery. Inside, there were a few more, and Rei realized that they had to have been infected by the one that had been outside, fairly recently even. The one outside had probably been an infected family member who ate everyone else inside.

It was tragic, but she didn't have time to cry anymore, she knew.

It was time to survive.

After barricading the front and back doors, Rei evaluated the cupboard. Canned and dried food lined the shelves, and lighters were sitting near firewood in the cupboard below. The house had been all prepared for the power to go out. Rei wondered, not for the last time, what had gone wrong there. She blinked back hot tears, and made her way towards another door. Upon opening, she put away her nostalgia and gazed at the stairs descending into the darkness.

"Must be a basement," Rei blurted to nobody in particular. Of _course _it was a basement, how could it have been any more _obvious-_

Wielding her gun, she took her first steps into the darkness.


	2. Changes of the dead

The first thing Rei noticed was a camping tarp.

Blankly, she made her way towards it, noticing how uneven and lumpy it was. She curiously lifted it up, squinting just to see the outline.

There lay two things she immediately registered: A flashlight and an electric hair clipper. Dimly, she grabbed the former and flipped the switch, expecting nothing. The lightbulb-_literally_- went on.

Startled by the sudden brightness, Rei fell backwards from her crouching position onto her butt. She rubbed her eyes. They quickly adjusted, and she picked up the flashlight.

The beam fell on a partially closed door, and Rei shuddered. She hated closed doors. She flashed back to a horror movie she had once seen, the type where the girl always gets ripped to bits. It featured, you guessed it, a closed door.

Putting her fears behind her, she quickly strode towards the door. Without hesitation, she opened it. From what she could see, it was piled with clothes. Absentmindedly she flipped the light switch to get a better look. Nothing happened.

_God,_ she thought, frustrated, _My brain must _not _be working today._

Rei scanned the area with her flashlight, trying to find one of 'them'. There weren't any, but she _did_ find a light switch. She walked over to see it closer, and noticed it had the words "Post-blowout" on it. Good _lord_, they really _were_ prepared for everything. The 'infected relative' theory she'd held earlier might no hold water.

Rei flicked the switch, and in an instant she was blinded by the brightness. After a few minutes, she could see again. Noticing a light adjuster on the switch that had gotten past her radar, she slid it down.

On further/better evaluation, the room wasn't just filled with clothes, but a few futons and medical supplies as well. Looking at the futons, Rei suddenly felt grungy and tired. Since nobody was here, what would it matter if she stole some clothes? 'They' certainly didn't need them.

"Hmm...I guess I should change."

_ Several hours earlier, at the police station_

Saya Takagi hurriedly ran after Hirano, ironically struggling to keep up. She wasn't exactly happy about getting stuck with the team's otaku, nor was she enjoying having to massacre her way through most of the building.

"Hey," Hirano called, "You need any help?"

Yes. "No you idiot, I'm fine!"

He shrugged. "When you get eaten don't- WHOA!"

Saya nearly fainted as he aimed the rifle at her, and fired at the one behind her, blowing its head off.

"It was about to bite you," he explained. "Are you okay, Takagi-san?

This time, she really did faint.

As Saya regained consciousness a few minutes later, her first registered thought was that she was against a wall, and Hirano was standing a few feet away. Her next thought was that she knew she had fainted, followed by a long stream of curses the writer chooses not to specify.

Noticing she seemed to be awake, Hirano turned his head.

"Huh?" He asked, "You awake now?"

"Urrgh...Shut up, chubby..."

He smiled. "Nice to see you too."

She groggily placed a hand on his shoulder, and stood up.

"So," She mumbled, "How long was I out?"

"Enough to count. We'd better get back, Komuro's probably worried sick about you."

_And he isn't the only one,_ Hirano thought.

"Alright, so why didn't you carry me?"

Hirano's cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "Uh, well...You're kind of heavy, Saya. And I'm not in the best of shape-"

"DID I GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO ADDRESS ME BY FIRST NAME?"

"No-Ow! Hey! That hur-OW OW OW! Okay! I'm sorry, Takagi-san!"

"Holy crap," Takashi murmured, Looking over the injuries a few minutes later.

"What happened? Looks like you got hit by a truck!"

"That's-ow- a pretty good description," Hirano sheepishly replied, while Shizuka treated his bruises. Saeko, Alice, and Saya sat nearby, discussing something.

"Hey Saya," Alice probed, "Why'd you beat up Kohta-chan?"

"That's Saya Onee-chan to you!" Saya corrected, tugging at the girl's cheeks. "And I did it because he's stupid!"

"It must have been horrible," Saeko deadpanned.

Saya glared at her, mildly annoyed.

"What did he do, anyway?" Saeko continued. "It's not like he _groped_ you, right?"

"Uh...That's...That's exactly what he did!"

"Hey! I did not! I only called you by your first name!"

"Well...!"

Shizuka and Takashi watched as the two continued to fight. "Like a married couple," She muttered under her breath, "They'll always have a reason."

After Saeko and Takashi left, Saya and Kohta stopped fighting and ignored each other. Shizuka, Alice, and Zeke sat sleeping against the wall, while Kohta was keeping watch. Saya simply counted the minutes until Takashi got back, and tried not to fall of 'them' came into view, and Hirano quickly shot at them.

"Must have broken in together to find a cure," He stated.

"Well," Takagi sighed, "At least they were together 'till the end."

"Yeah."

After that, it faded into another awkward silence. Nervously, Saya fidgeted with her gun. She looked at it, then at Hirano, then back at the gun. She cleared her throat.

"Ahem...uh, Hirano."

He jumped in surprise, then collected himself. "What is it, Takagi-san?"

"Err...About earlier."

He raised an eyebrow. "What about it?"

"I think I...I went too...I'msorryIoverreacted."

Hirano's face softened. "Thanks, Takagi-san."

He smiled sheepishly, and she felt her face grow hot. It was absolutely _humiliating,_ apologizing to that stupid otaku.

"W-well," She added, her face turning red, "Don't act like you can call me Saya!"

"Alright, I won't," Came the reply, and all was silent. But instead of embarrassment, the atmosphere was now one of satisfaction.

Sorting through the clothes to find something to wear wasn't Rei's idea of a picnic. They were either a: designed for men, b: way too big, or c: both. After half an hour of increasingly frustrating results, she finally found some sports bras in her size. She had since given up on finding any substantially 'girlier' clothing, and just decided to put some fitting guys' clothes an the undergarments (the bras and some boxers, to boot) in a backpack.

Rei walked over to a mirror at one end of the room, feeling nothing. She pulled the ribbon out of her hair, tying it around her wrist, and thought of the hair clipper. That's when her damn fashion sense got a hold of her.

Walking back out to the tarp, she lifted it up to find the clipper and a pair of scissors. Once she did, she walked back up to the mirror, and started cutting. She cut it shorter and shorter, trimming one of her cowlicks in the process, until her hair was shoulder length.

Rei emptily stood there, and stared at her reflection. It looks tomboyish and tall, nothing like what she usually indentified herself as.

"Why...did I do that...?"

Blankly, she reached out and touched the mirror with the tips of her fingers. She was tired after running around all day. She needed to sleep. Maybe she'd be able to figure out what was going with her in the morning. So as quietly as she could, Rei laid out a futon, closed the door, turned off the lights, and went to sleep.

**A.N.: Holy crap, this is short. Oh well, I guess I make up for it with my notorious use of the enter key. I'm sorry Rei's acting so empty and spontaneous, though it will play a key role later on. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Over and out.**


End file.
